Halloween 2009

Between parties at church, at school, and with friends, and actual trick-or-treating, we had 4 opportunities to wear our costumes this year! I have been working on Halloween costumes all month, so it was nice to get to wear them more than once (but after wearing them for 4 days, it's nice to hang them up for a while).

If saw last year's ensemble, you know we are fans of themed family costumes. Credit for this idea goes to my sister Whitney (if I remember right). She came up with several good ideas that you may see in years to come.

When Eliza saw Mike with his wolf nose on, she wouldn't go near him. She was pretty much terrified of him for the first 20 minutes of the church party. That's why she is stone-faced in many of the pictures.

I took this picture of Eliza when we were standing in line for food. She wouldn't stand next to Mike, so she was off by herself looking like a zombie. Her cape is on a little crooked, so it looks uneven, but I promise it's not!

Our costumes really need no explanation, but you're going to get it anyway!

Little Red Riding Hood

I made her dress from the Simplicity pattern 5695, which I already had from when I made this dress (view B). I did a combination of view C and E this time and added some rick rack that I picked up at a garage sale this summer. The dress was pretty simple and fast, but hand sewing the trim took a little while. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. One of the reasons I was so excited to do this dress (and took the time to do the trim) is that she can wear it as a regular dress now that Halloween is over! I don't think you can see them in any of the pictures, but I made bows out of some red gingham ribbon that matched the dress fabric perfectly!

For the cape, I used a pattern I found online, but then decided to trim the cape shorter, add a ribbon tie, and add a ruffly trim to the hood. The trim is actually blanket binding that I found as a remnant at Hobby Lobby that just happened to be the exact color I needed!

The Woodsman/Lumberjack

I made Caleb's had out of black knit that was on sale at JoAnn. I made it just like the little blue and pink striped hats they put on newborns at the hospital. His vest took all of five minutes to make. I cut the back piece using a onesie as pattern, then used the back piece as a guide for the two sides. I sewed the sides onto the back and it was finished! Hooray for fleece edges not needing to be finished! I made the axe out of some felt scraps I had. He enjoyed having something to hold in his hands and chew on.

Grandma

I used Simplicity pattern 9012 for the nightgown. It is definitely not figure-flattering (especially in an XL), but I wanted to make sure it was something that would fit Mr. Wolf's broad shoulders and not-so-feminine figure. I made the nightgowns shorter in order to get both nightgowns out of the 7 1/2 yard of fabric I had (I bought everything left on the bolt).

I went back a couple weeks later (when they had more of that fabric in) and got another 3/4 yard to do our mop caps with. For the caps, I cut 2 circles out (one for each cap) with a 21-inch diameter. Then on the wrong side, I sewed bias tape in about 2.5 inches to form a casing. I cut a piece of elastic the right size to go around each of our heads and threaded it through. I tied it off and called it done. I didn't finish the edge of the cap because it was quite late when I got to the caps, so I decided to be lazy.

I picked up some sponge curlers for a dollar at Big Lots and reminisced about Saturday nights when I was a wee one. I think whoever coined the phrase "beauty is pain" also slept with those puppies in her hair. I also wore knee-highs rolled down granny style with slippers.

The Wolf

When I was finishing up costumes the night before our first event, I asked Mike what he wanted his nose to be like. I showed him some ideas that I found on the internet. He didn't really like any of them. He wanted something more authentic-looking. I wasn't as invested in getting the features just so, so he went ahead and created his own. It's a good thing he did because I was just planning on doing some cardboard in a conical shape covered in fur, which would have been lame compared to what he came up with. He was really getting into it. He was loving the excuse to be creative. We were up until 2am and he didn't get his homework done, but he had more fun that he's had in a long time, so it's all good.

I bet you'll never guess what the base of the nose is, so I'll just tell you. It's half of a roll of paper towels minus the cardboard tube. I had a roll already cut in half for another project. He found it under the sink and the creative juices started flowing. He covered it in felt white felt, with pink felt inside the mouth. He used a black sharpie for the shading and detail. With glue from the glue gun, he made saliva dripping in the mouth and made the lips look wet. He cut the teeth from white felt. After it was done, he had to come up with a way to hold it on. He used a screwdriver to poke a hole through the paper towels on both sides, then stuck a 2-inch piece of drinking straw through the hole to make to more durable, then tied elastic to either side. I, for one, was much impressed by his costuming genius (I guess I shouldn't be surprised after witnessing the amazing creation of his Mad Hatter hat).

I cut and sewed tubes of fake fur for legs and sleeves. I safety-pinned the legs to some basketball shorts that Mike wore under his nightgown. The arms were attached with a rubber band at either end (they didn't show because the fur was shaggy). The ears have cardboard from a cereal box inside them. They are velcro-ed to the cap.

Finally, here are some more pictures from our Halloween escapades:

Chowing down on treats

When we trick-or-treated together (just on our street), Mike carried Caleb just like this. At one of the houses, someone asked if the baby was real. Everyone really thought the little woodsman was a nice touch.

Bearded Red Riding Hood


The LDS law school kiddos